Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Varnam presents 'Stories of Channapatna'

Varnam~ Colours for your home, which is Karthik Vaidyanathan's venture brings to you beautiful lamps from their series called 'Stories of Channapatna'.

Each piece has been designed by Varnam and handcrafted by the artisans of Channapatna.

Channapatna is a rural town on the outskirts of Bangalore which is popular for it's wooden toys best known as Channapatna toys. The work involves lacquering the wood of 'Wrightia tinctoria tree also known as 'Aale mara'. The origin of these toys can be traced to the reign of Tipu Sultan who invited artisans from Persia to train the local artisans in making wooden toys.

Green 'Villaku' base, inspired by the traditional oil lamps...

Green base with White and Gold lamp shade...

Lamp bases in various colours...

Green lamp base with Purple Buta Shade...

Karthik says,'I have always found the 'glossy' vibrant colours of Channapatna very intriguing and wanted to explore them in a different avtaar, away from their 'toys' imagery. Since I keep a keen interest in home decor, wanted to combine the two.'

Lovely post Arch! Chennapana toys have been my favourite wooden toys ever and kudos to Karthik Vaidyanathan on a fabulous venture. I wish him all success and this store is on my must-see list next time I'm B'lore bound.

its so nice to see people use crafts and convert them into contemporary designs and products. This increases the market for these crafts and gives them a fresh lease of life whether in the domestic market or through exports.

there is an organization called SASHA that I worked with long back. they do the same with crafts in the east. very admirable.

Are these available in the US 120V type plugs? Also, how do we buy them later on if we can't be there the next 3 days?

Archana-absolutely love your blog and wait for your posts, takes me back to my childhood with the traditional/antique things. I'm very much inspired. I used to think I was the only one taking pictures of stuff around the house! Thanks for keeping company :)and showing things so beautifully.

Lovely Lamps!!! It is really nice to see age old traditional crafts brought into the modern living. Archana you have a great blog with interesting posts. I will be flying in and out from Bangalore in my forthcoming trip to India. Can you list some good places I can visit for the arts and crafts :-)

I remember Channapatna toys from many years ago. I will be in the vicinity of BLR in July. Is it possible to buy them in Channapatna itself or is it only available through retailers in BLR? Thanks for sharing these wonderful objects made of wood.

Hi, because I love inspiration from all over the world, I sat home yesterday googling blogs, and then I found you! And now you are on my bloglist. I love the idea of beeing connected to the world, and thats why I found you, by googling blog in india.... Wisit me if you would like to.

The lamps are so beautiful...The Kaan material is so well used...what a lovely idea...And the Chanpatna toys are so wounderful.Thanks Arch for sharing the post...they are so inspirational and you have something fantastic to share in each posts

I think, these look so lovely!These all are so beautiful lamps, A brilliant way to utilize this traditional craft and create products that are beautiful and functional, And especially i like the Green base with White and Gold lamp shade.You are doing great work.Thanks Archana for the wonderful post about varnam.